Don't waste time on soap operas says pope

(ANSA) - Vatican City, February 3 - People should not waste valuable prayer time by watching soap operas, Pope Francis said Tuesday.
    They should also not spend time that could be given over to prayer by listening to idle gossip, the pontiff said at a Mass in St Martha's House, the Vatican hostel he lives in.
    "At home, 15 minutes, pick up the Gospel, a small passage, imagine what happened and talk with Jesus about it," said Francis, who has often stressed the importance of prayer.
    "So your gaze will be fixed on Jesus and not so much on a TV soap opera, for example. "Your ears will be focused on the words of Jesus and not so much on your neighborhood gossip", said the pope.
    "This is how contemplative prayer helps us in hope. Living the substance of the Gospel. Always pray".
    Francis said that "keeping our gaze fixed on Jesus" is the core of hope. He stressed that if we do not listen to the Lord, we may be "optimistic or positive" people but without the hope that we learn "from contemplating Christ". This led the Holy Father to speak of "contemplative prayer". The Pope said that "it is good to pray the Rosary every day", to talk "with the Lord, when we have a problem, or the Virgin Mary or the Saints ..". But, "contemplative prayer" is important and this can only be done "with the Gospel in hand".